


Who knew we were lightning?

by Flargalgargal



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Running
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 14:35:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15687369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flargalgargal/pseuds/Flargalgargal
Summary: Oliver meets a girl on his morning runs. But why is she seemingly pretending to be tired, and how is she kicking his ass?





	Who knew we were lightning?

Sweat beaded off of the back of his neck, and the collar of his shirt stuck annoyingly to his chest, making him want to constantly pull it loose. Oliver Queen resisted the temptation, knowing it would only bunch up again quickly, and he’d parked his bike only a mile down the road, in an alley behind a bakery that seemed lightly traveled.

Oliver picked up the pace slightly, ready to reach the end of his morning ten miles before heading to the office. However, as he did so, he heard rapidly approaching footfalls behind him and to his left side. They were light, as though the person making them was smaller than average, and he would’ve missed them had he been wearing headphones, as most runners he passed did. He preferred the ambiance of nature and the ability to focus provided by running without distractions, though, and so he turned his head to observe their approach.

Steadily gaining on him was a blonde in a sweater and business casual slacks, he realized surprisingly. Her form left much to be desired, but it was nonetheless effective, as she continued to catch him, showing no signs of fatigue, and even digging through her bag for something undetermined without losing a step.

Until she pulled even with him, at least. When the girl happened to look over and catch sight of his curious gaze, she stumbled, but kept her footing, slowing to a much more reasonable pace for a short time before once again leaving him in the dust. The last Oliver saw of the mystery girl was a quick glimpse as she headed into the bakery down the road, and as rounded the corner of the building towards his bike, he noticed her inside with a brunette, this one with much shorter hair, who was giving equally subtle looks out the window towards him.

Over the next week, Oliver continued running near the bakery, considering it a twist on his usual routine of running near the next target location he planned to visit in his night job. He wanted more information on this mystery girl, though she hadn’t shown up again since that first day. He’d even attempted some light social media stalking, though it was difficult as he knew next to nothing about her, and was unwilling to mention the incident to Felicity, or anyone for that matter.

He’d nearly given up on having his curiosity indulged when she showed up again, in the same place, this time in regular workout clothes, but still looking like she’d just started running. She didn’t sweat a drop, even as her stride shortened a bit and her shoulders sagged slightly. 

Oliver frowned. It seemed as if this girl was letting him overtake her, making it seem like she was tired, despite not seeming to be nearly as worn out as he’d expected from his own experience just moments before.

If she wanted to feed him false information, he realized, she’d need to be near him, but stay behind, to make sure he noticed her tiredness. And if she really was tired, he wasn’t going to slow down simply to watch her, as that would likely only drive her away again. Therefore, Oliver gained speed, finishing his run on a dead sprint for the last half mile. When he looked behind himself once more, near the end of his route, the girl had vanished again.

The act continued for the next week, Oliver determinedly ignoring the girl’s presence on the days she showed up, and glancing around disappointedly on those that she didn’t. By the second week, it seemed she’d caught on to his plans, and when she next appeared, earlier in his route, the two of them kept pace until the end, though she made to stay slightly behind him at all times.

Clearly, Oliver decided, she knew what she was doing, but didn’t want to show off. With that in mind, he lengthened his course over the next week, taking an extra five miles by the end of it. When he got to the end on that Sunday, the girl nearby as usual, she didn’t look as though she’d even noticed the extra distance, so he resolved to try a different tactic.

The next week, he was back down to his original ten miles, but every time the girl got near him, Oliver sped up, leaving her about a block behind. And every time, he watched as she caught up to him, again and again, continuing to seemingly pretend to be more tired than she was.

On the last day of this week, however, he noticed a difference in her. She looked perkier than usual, which was saying something, as she tended to look like a girl-sized ball of sunshine normally, and this time she was the one pulling ahead every time he caught up, giving him a cheeky look as she did so.

The game continued on through the winter, Oliver continuing to observe and attempt to keep up with the suddenly very athletic girl, though he wasn’t having much luck on either front. 

That wouldn’t change until spring came back around. Oliver’s night job had picked up as usual, with May’s usual terrorist attack approaching quickly, and he was putting arrows into three henchmen simultaneously before flipping over one’s back to kick a fourth in the back of the head when suddenly all of his foes were defeated. 

Every single enemy Oliver had just been calculating how to take down was already unconscious and tied to a nearby lamp post with the cable from one of his previously used bolo arrows, and floating above them was a blonde in a skirt. A surprisingly familiar blonde in a skirt, he realized, recalling a recent news report about a new hero catching a falling plane.

“Good to finally have some proof you’ve been cheating on our runs, ‘Supergirl’.” He called out.  
The floating girl managed to somehow stumble in midair, making her way slowly to the ground. “It’s you?” She questioned, alarm evident in her voice. “You’re him? The vigilante arrow-killer guy?”  
“Green Arrow.” He nodded, looking to the unconscious opposition once more. “We should move this discussion elsewhere. The usual place, in the morning?” She nodded back, and was gone quicker than even he could track.  
“Wait, you know Supergirl?” Came a voice from his earpiece. Oliver sighed. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do when he got back to the lair.

She was waiting for him the next day when he arrived at the beginning of his route, the other brunette he recognized from the bakery that first day following a respectable distance behind with admirable subtlety. He almost hadn’t noticed her, but she seemed unable to stop glaring dangerously at him, giving herself away in the process.

Oliver approached his spot normally, stretching slightly as he prepared for the day’s exercise. Eventually, she came over to him, keeping a few feet of distance between them as she looked him over with fresh, questioning eyes.

“Oliver Queen?” She asked.

He nodded. “Kara Danvers?” He asked back. “You have your over-protective friends, I have mine.” He smiled slightly, glancing pointedly back towards the other woman. “She realizes I couldn’t hurt you even if I wanted to, right?”

“Alex, my sister, has always been like that.” She laughed, the tension in her shoulders loosening slightly. She followed him closely as they set out to start the run. “And do we have to run first, can’t we just talk about this? Maybe over some nice sticky buns?” Kara smiled at the thought of the food, drawing another small smile from Oliver. 

“You didn’t seem to be having that much trouble when you were kicking my ass last week.” He teased, upping his pace a bit and smiling as she too sped up to stay just ahead of him.

“I really hate running though!” Kara cried out. “At first I was just doing it to make you think I was normal, and that was necessary, so I got through it, but then Alex thought it would be good for me to remember to act more human-like, and it was kind of fun beating you, but really I just liked it when Alex bought me sticky buns every time we finished.”

Oliver blinked, taking a moment to process the rambling. “Well how about this then, when we get there, I’ll buy you all the sticky buns you can eat, and we’ll talk this out.”

“Oh, you’re going to regret that,” Kara laughed, before looking back to the miles of road ahead of them, “And so am I.” She groaned.

“How can you hate exercise this much when you can’t even get tired?” Oliver questioned, pulling ahead slightly. He smiled as her only response was to pull ahead of him again, no matter how many times he sped up. 

By the time they arrived at the bakery, his energy was nearly as drained as his bank account after trying to fill an alien with breakfast pastries, but Oliver couldn’t bring himself to regret either as he watched the laughing girl sitting across from him. He’d solved his mystery, but couldn’t help still wanting to know more about Kara, to know everything, if she’d let him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I do hope you enjoyed your time here.   
> The title of this comes from the State Champs song Lightning, off their great new album. 
> 
> Also, there’s almost 100 Kara/Oliver stories here now, which is awesome, and you should totally support them all, there are some great writers in there.


End file.
